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THE 

OILMAN HOUSE 

\ 

KKINC. A HISTORY OF THE DWELLING HOUSE ERECTED IN 

EXETER NEW HAMPSHIRE ABOUT 1740 BY 

DR. DUDLEY ODLIN 

OCCUPIKl) DL'KINC. THREE GENERATIONS BY 

THE OILMAN FAMILY 

AND NOW n\ THE CUT OK 

DR. DAVID HUNTER McALPIN AND CHARLES WILLISTON McALI'IN 

IN THE lOSSESSION OK 

THE PHILLIPS EXETER ACADEMY 

BY 

(;fx)R(;?: b. ro(;ers 



REI'RINTKD KROM 
THE BULLETIN OK THE I'Hll.l.H'S KXKTER ACADEMY, MARCH, I906 



EXETER, N. H. 

Zi)t Xrtos=1Lfttfr idxtsa 

1906 



A 



\ 



^"g* 





Cni.. NATHANIEL OILMAN 



THE OILMAN HOUSE 



IN the September number of the Bul- 
letin was described the recent ben- 
efaction of the McAlpin brothers. 
The greater part of their gift to the 
Academy consisted of the (rihiian home- 
stead. Old Exeter boys will remember it 
as the large, gambrel- roofed house that 
stood on the south side of Front Street, 
facing the brick Ba])tist Church, the town 
library, and the meeting-house • in the 
Academy yard. It was distinguished by 
the spacious grounds which surrounded it, 
and the ancient, spreading elm that over- 
hung its roof. During the last century 
and a half it has been so closely connected 
in manifold ways with the fortunes of the 
town and of the Academy, and the life 
within its walls has been so varied, rich, 
and full of human interest, that it seems 



pro]jer and profitable to gather and set in 
order, so far as is now possible, the facts 
bearing upon its history. The following 
pages aim to give the annals of the house 
itself and such account, besides, of its 
occupants and the events of which they 
were a part as may deepen our interest in 
the past of this venerable town and in- 
crease our regard for one of its most pre- 
cious monuments. 

The Exeter of the eighteenth century 
was very different from the town we know. 
As the " Falls of the Piscataquack " and 
the river below had determined Wheel- 
wright's choice of a site for his little set- 
tlement a hundred years before, so still the 
straggling village kejjt close to the water's 
edge. The sawmills and the ship-yards 
were there. Most of the houses stood on 



THK (il I.MAX HOUSE 




(;II.MAN HOUSE FROM THE WES I 



Water Street, which followed closely the 
winding course of the river, past the old 
meeting-house hill, and on northward 
toward Newmarket and Dover. The nar- 
row, deep-cut lane that now leads up from 
the river past Dr. (lerrish's door was an 
important highway for the logging teams 
coming from the great forests to the west- 
ward. The town burying-ground was on 
the little hill below which now stands the 
gas-house. Eastward, across the bridge, a 
road led through the woods to Hampton ; 
and in the opposite direction another,' jjast 
the " new meeting-house," to Brentwood. 
This was all. 

The land lying south of the village and 
extending to the Little River, a tract of 
which the (lilman lot and the Plim|)ton 
Playing Fields are parts, was in the earliest 
days the proj)erty of Councillor John 
(iilman, i)erhaps the most eminent citizen 
of Exeter in the first half-century of its 

' The present Front Street. 



history. From his hands it passed in 
1696 to the Rev. John Clark, the young 
minister who had then just been estab- 
lished over the First Church. Two or 
three months before the transfer of this 
l^roperty, the town, which had hitherto 
worshipi)ed in the little log structure at 
the northern end of the settlement, above 
the shi])-yards, voted that a new meeting- 
house " should be erected on the hill be- 
tween the great fort" and Nat Folsom's 
barn." Though the location of the latter 
building is still unknown, and will ])rol)a- 
bly remain so, it is certiiin that the hill 
referred to is that on which the i)resent 
First Church stands. It was natural, 
therefore, that Mr. Clark should acipiire 
the })roi)erty which was so near to the 
place of his future labors. It seems not 
im])robal)le that the minister became 
landholder ])erforce, for in those times the 
town was richer in land tlian in si)ecie. 



' Now called the " garrison house." 



THE OILMAN HOUSE 




THE "LirrLE PARLOR 



and the cost of maintaining public ordi- 
nances was often reckoned in terms of 
house-lots and meadows, or even pine 
boards and pipe staves. 

Less than two years later Mr. Clark 
died, and the Rev. John Odlin was or- 
dained over the church in his stead. Hav- 
ing married his predecessor's widow, Mr. 
Odlin not unnaturally came in time into 
possession of this tract of land with which 
we are concerned. Upon it he built the 
house in which he lived during most of the 
years of his long ministry. The site was 
very nearly that of the present Merrill, or 
Ilsley house, ^ which stands on the south- 

' Those who were Academy boys as long as fifty 
years ago can identify the spot by recalling the 
residence of the Rev. Isaac Hurd, a low, sf|uare 
house, resembling Dr. .Soule's, and facing the 
church which stood in the school yard. Mr. 
Hurd's house has not been destroyed nor removed, 
Init altered almost beyond recognition by the ad- 
dition of tower and Mansard roof. 



erly side of Front Street, almost directly 
opi^osite Peabody Hall. Thus the par- 
sonage was not far from the meeting- 
house, but still, as it seemed to the Exeter 
of that time, well out of town. Front 
Street was hardly more than the road to 
the Pickpocket mills. South of it was 
only farm land or forest. Even so late as 
1800, the only building between Front 
Street and the river was " Nathaniel Oil- 
man's barn," perhai)s near the spot now 
commonly designated as the " Sunday 
Campus." Court, Elliot, and Pine Streets 
were still in the future. On the very out- 
skirts of the village, somewhat beyond 
Mr. Odlin's house, stood the newly erected 
Second Church. It was on the north side 
of the road, near the spot where the 
Whitefield stone is, and just across the 
way was the residence of Judge Nicholas 
(jilman. On the road westward appeared 
only an occasional farm-house. When 



♦; 



Tu r: c I iM A x n () I'sr 



I )r. Abbot removed from the old Phillips 
mansion down by the river to the house 
now known as the Frimipal's residence, it 
is related that he exi)ressed reliu tance at 
making the ( hange, because, besides be- 
ing in the midst of the sands, it was out of 
the way of all his friends and neighlxjrs. 

The Rev, John Odlin had sons P'lisha, 
Dudley, and \\'oo<lbridge. 'ITie first and 
third of these, after graduating from 
Harvard College, entered the ministry. 
Wootlbridge was made colleague with his 
aged father, and after the latter's death 
was elected to succeed him. 'i"he ( om- 
bined pastorates of father and son covered 
about seventy years. Elisha was called to 
the ministry of the church in Amesbury, 
where he remained until his death. It need 
hardly be said that, at a period when the 
ministerial office in itself was the object 
of su< h veneration, the Odlin family must 
have occupied in the town a jjosition of 
great dignity and influence. This ])osition 
was rendered even more secure by the 
jjossession of large wealth.'* 

The son Dudley, who more nearly con- 
cerns us, selected, in spite of the evident 
family bent towartl the jjriestly office, the 
profession of medicine. He did not join 
his brothers at Harvard. Kor the practice 
of the ])hysician's art in those days a col- 
lege education was not regarded as neces- 
sary, and the place of the medical school 
and hospitals was filled by the nearest 
elderlv practitioner who was willing to 
take ail ajiprentice. Where our Doctor 
1 )udley received his medi(al training we 
do not know. it is certain onlv that he 



^ In till- ILiiMird class lists previous to 1773, 
the order of names was determined not by the now 
universal hut meaninfjless reference to the alpha- 
bet, but l)y the students' social rank. Klisha 
Odlin stood seventh in a class of 34, and \\n. id- 
bridge sixth in a class of 33. John I'hiliips, it may 
l)e added, was accorded a place in his class 
among the first third. 



l>ractised among his fellow-townsmen, and 
that, somewhere between his twentieth and 
thirtieth year, he ere( ted for himself in 
the eastern corner of his reverend father's 
yard, the great gambrel-roofed house 
whi( h became known in later years as the 
(xilman mansion. It is this house that 
after the vicissitudes of one hundred and 
seventy years, after numerous additions 
and alterations, to whic h the varying 
needs and tastes of its occupants have 
subjected it, has now come into the pos- 
session of The Phillips F'xeter Academy. 
John Phillips was a boy at Harvard when 
it was Ijin'lt. (ieorge Washington was its 
contemporary. Its first owner was an offi- 
cer in the French and Indian wars.* 

ITie style of Dr. Odlin's house was a 
common one in his day. Three others of 
the same period and built after the same 
model are still to l)e seen in the town. 
One is next to the Methodist Church, and 
is now occujjied by Dr. W. B. Kenniston. 
At the beginning of the last century it was 
the home of Benjamin Clark (iilman. 
The second stands at the corner of Park 
and Simimer Streets, o])posite the resi- 
dence of Dr. (ierrish, and was built by 
Major John (iilman, hini who escaped 
from the massacre of Fort William Henry 
in 1757. It has the same great, shrug- 
ging gambrel as its contemj^orary on Front 
Street, the same simplicity and dignity of 
line, and the same mixture of rusti( itv 
and elegance. The existence of the third 
house is known to few. It too was Imilt 
by a (iilman. and stood for a hundred and 
thirty years on the site of the present 
town hall. The revolutionary Committee 
of Safety freipiently met there. Its bril- 
liant and act i)mi)lisheil mistress was wont 
to entertain the young French officers of 

* Dr. Dudley Odlin was cajitain of a company 
raised in 1 746 to take part in an expeilition against 
Canada. 



THE OILMAN HOUSE 



the American army. Some fifty years ago 
it was carried down to Franklin Street, 
deprived of its lower story, and set among 
the tenement-houses, where it stands to 
this day, squat and squalid, a jMtiful relic 
of its heroic jiast. The roof that once 
sheltered Samuel Adams now echoes to the 
strange accents of Quebec or Poland. 

So far as we know, it was only the main 
part of our (rilman house that was built 
bv Dr. Odlin. Two or three ells have 



seem to have been quite ample for the 
needs of a bachelor, as Dr. Odlin is said 
to have been. 

In 1748, Dr. Dudley Odlin died at the 
early age of thirty-seven. His house was 
bequeathed by him to his sixteen-year-old 
nephew John, the son of that Elisha who 
was a minister in Amesbury, but on this 
condition, — so the story goes, — that the 
said John should follow his uncle's pro- 
fession. This condition was fulfilled. It 




THE LIBRARY 



been added in later years, but there is no 
reason for thinking that his plans extended 
beyond the plain rectangle. One should 
be careful to notice also that even the 
main structure has been widened by add- 
ing to the original Odlin frame eight or 
ten feet of house-room on the southern 
side. The timbers of the old outer wall 
can easily be seen in the ceilings of the 
southwest corner rooms. The extension 
is betrayed also in the asymmetry of the 
roof. But even without an ell, and with 
only its first proportions, the house would 



is conjectured that the boy even began his 
medical studies under his uncle's tuition. 
Like the elder Dr. Odlin again, he seems 
to have been ready to serve his king and 
country in the wars. At twenty-six he 
joined as surgeon's mate one of the regi- 
ments sent to Crown Point, and it may be 
that he took j^art in the Louisburg expe- 
dition. He was then already married, and 
presumably living in the house which his 
uncle had given him. The first child ever 
born there was his daughter Mary. Soon 
after the war was over he turned again to 



TH F C I I \f A V HOl'SE 




nil-: NoKMi\vi:>i liiamhkk 



his profession, and < ontinued to i^ractise 
it in the town for twenty years. Mean- 
while in the old homestead next door the 
inevitable human ihanges had come. The 
venerable grandfather had linished his 
threescore years and ten, and gone. His 
son, the Doctor's uncle ^\'oodl)ridge,*' had 
followed in the ])astorate of the First 
Churi h, had married, and reared a large 
family, and, after leading his j)eople 
through the stormy ])rerevolutionary days 
and up to the very threshold of national 
independence, had likewise ceased from 
his labors. In 17S2, Dr. Odlin and his 
wife and three children removed from 
Fvxeter to Concord, and the house and lot 
where he had lived were st)ld to a neigh- 
bor, Colonel Nicholas Crilman. I'hc land 
which at the beginning was the |)roperty 
of old Councillor John (.ilman thus came 
after many years and many ( hanges into 
the hands of one of his lineal descendants. 
Thenceforth the house that Dr. Dudley 
Odlin built was to be intimately associated 

' f'.reat-uncle of the Wnodbridjje Odlin who 
founded our professorsliip of English. 



with the fortunes of another family, and 
a new chai>ter in its history was opened. 

The Ciilmans of this ])eriod were j^er- 
hajjs the most numerous, certainly the 
most distinguished, familv in Hxeter. It 
was in the first decade of the town's ex- 
istence, that John (iilman and his brothers 
came up from the Mas- 
sachusetts Hingham and 




o i n ed Wheelwright's 



little coK)n\ at the falls of 
the Piscatiicjua. Their 
characteristii- enterjjrise, 
energy, jiruilence, and 
thrift, combined with 
their relatively ample 
means, made them from 
the beginning natural 
leailers in the com- 
munity, and these (jualities appear to have 
been carried down from generation to 
generation with a remarkable continuity, 

■rill.' Aimiicaii ( iilnians arc descended from 
Edward, who was Ijorn in the Enj^hsh IIin}j;liani, 
county of Norfolk, and for rehj^ous reasons mi- 
grated with his family to Massachusetts in 1638. 



Ak.MS OK THK NOK- 
rOl.K' CIIMANS 



THE OILMAN HOUSE 



'9 



The toiATi records teem with Crihnan 
names. Councillor John himself was the 
father of sixteen children, six of them being 
sons ; and their lineage an turn was in- 
•creased in like proportion. But the emi- 
nence of the family depended e\en less 
■upon its numbers than upon its unvarying 
capacity and public spirit. The student 
■of Exeter history must indeed be wary if 
he avoid confusion amid the numerous 
Nicholases, Nathaniels, Daniels, and Johns 
that have at one time or other, in one 
way or other, served and been honored by 
their native town. They built its houses 
and churches, founded its industries, ad- 
ministered its finances, guided its affairs 
in times of peace, and assumed leadership 
in the perils of war. If a meeting-house 
was to be erected, Gilmans would be 
found on the committee. If a military 
com}:)any was to be recruited, a Oilman 
would be among its officers. A final dis- 
tribution of the common lands was made 
in 1738. Of the seven commissioners to 
whom the business was intrusted, four 
were Gilmans. One half of the modera- 
tors during the first two centuries of the 
town's history bore the name. In the 
family have been councillors, judges, state 
treasurers, governors, state and national 
senators and representatives, and an in- 
definite number of captains and colonels. 
One ardent chronicler writes ; " Edward 
(Oilman's descendants are as numerous as 
the sands of the seashore. There is hardly 
a state in the Union where they may not 
be found. The family has been in civil 
office from the time our colony became a 
royal province." Another takes the word : 
" The sturdy phalanx of Gilmans did 
more to keep up the steady course of the 
Colony, the Province, and the State, cer- 
tainly till 1815, than any other two or 
three families together." In the last gen- 
eral catalogue of The Phillips Exeter 



Academy are found the names of sixty- 
five (iilmans. The Smiths only are more 
numerous. 

The purchaser of the Odlin house and 
lot was Colonel Nicholas (Oilman, the great- 
grandson of Councillor John, and at this 
time the mast prominent citizen of the 
town, if not of the state. The historians 
are wont to call him the " brains of the 
Revolution in New Hampshire." In spite 
of his military title, and of the fact that he 
took part in the camjjaign against Bur- 
goyne, his fame rests less upon martial 
achievement than on success in the man- 
agement of the public finances during the 




"UNDER THE ELM " IN 1905 

long revolutionary struggle. He was the 
Robert Morris of his province. The royal 
governor Wentworth had become attached 
to him because of his faithful and efficient 
service under the old government, and 
endeavored by every means to save him to 
the King's cause. Even after Colonel 
(rilman had thrown himself into the con- 
flict on the patriot side, the governor was 
accustomed to say that after the rebellion 
was crushed he should see that his friend 
was spared. The genius of the old (rilmans 
was preeminently that of the market-place 
and the counting-house. Now and then, 
indeed, one entered the profession of the 
ministry or of law or of arms, and adorned 
it too, but it was trade and finance that 



I a 



-\\\ r: CI f.Nf A x HOL'sr: 



called forth their ]>e< uliar jjowers. Ihey 
(lis]>layed pnulence, diligence, and energy 
in the management of their affairs, and 
were prosjjered accordingly. ITioiigh they 
enlisted dutifully for the wars, and cer- 
tainly had the stuff of soldiers in them, 
they were often detained at home to keep 
the jHiblic ]nirse. In the i>ost of sUite 
treasurer, whic h he held for se\en years, 
Colonel N'ichoJas was succeeded l)y his 
son, and this son in turn l>y another, until 
together they had held the office for 
twenty-five years. Meanwhile they acted 
also as agents of the federal treasury. 
Two of the family have been treasurers of 
The Phillips Exeter Academy, and one the 
jjresident of its board of trustees. 

Colonel Nicholas (iilman lived on the 
little knoll overlooking Water Street and 
the river, in the okl house' now occupied 
by the Society of the Cincinnati. He had 
married early, and a large family had 
grown up about him. Three stalwart sons 
had already reached years of maturity, and 
had been associated with their father in 
the jniblic service. 'i'he eldest, John 
Taylor, now approaching thirty, had been 
an officer in the comjjany that marched 
from Exeter on the morning after the bat- 
tle of I,exington. On the memorable day 
in July, 1776, when the news of the Dec- 
laration of Independence reached the 
town, it had been he who was chosen to 
read the document l)efore the assembled 
])eople. He had served a term in the 
state legislature, and had been ap|)ointed 
to the Committee of Siifel\. lie was now 
for the second year a memlKr ol the Con- 
tinental Congress, the youngest man in the 
bodv. The second son, who had the 
father's name, Nicholas, had entered the 
Continental army at twenty-one, and was 
now serving on (General Washington's staff 

* Though the purchaser, he was never an occu- 
pant of the Front Street house. 



with the rank of {-ajitiiin.* Nathaniel, the 
third son, a tall, grave young man of 
twenty-three, had remained at home with 
his father during the war, while his two 
elder brothers were in the field or at Phil- 
adeli)hia. He assisted in the administra- 
tion of the state finances and in the busi- 
ness of the Continental treasury. In this 
latter office, indeed, he became his father's 
successor within the year. His early con- 
nection with the state militia had brought 
him the title of Colonel, and, although he 
was throughout his life engaged only in the 
l>ursuits of peace, his fellow-townsmen, 
with that fine sense for titled distinction 
which still marks the New Hampshire 
citizen, refused to allow the name to lajjse 
and would know their neighbor only as 
Colonel (iilman. 

In 1783, almost a year after the pur- 
chase of the Odlin house, and two months 
after the formal proclamation of i)eace 
i)etween Creat Britain and the revolted 
colonies, the head of the (iilman house- 
hold was taken by death. In the division 
of his large property the homestead on 
Water Street fell to John Taylor, and the 
Odlin house and lot'" to Nathaniel. How 
long the latter remained at the old home 
with his brother cannot be said, but cer- 

• A copy of the report which, as assistant adju- 
tant-general, he made of the prisoners taken at 
the surrender of Lord CornwalHs is still preserved. 
'Ihe document was evidently prepared with the 
most scruiiulous care, and is a perfect examjik' of 
the art of bookkeeping. As to which, one cannut 
help ..lisiiviiig how, even in the distracting husi- 
lu-ss (if war, the ( lilnians kept true to the type. 

'" In the inventory of Colonel Nicholas (iilman's 
])roperty the value of the " ( Mlin I louse and Land 
adjoining" is given as £2^0. In the deed of the 
])receding year, which conveyed the property fnim 
Dr. Odlin to Colonel (Iilman, the value is given as 
"four hundred and eighty poimds." It is ilith- 
cult to account for the tliscrepancy, unless we 
have to do here with a difference between Con- 
tinental currency and hard money. 



THE (ULMAN HOUSE 



11 




THE SOinHWEST CHAMBER 



tainly after his marriage, which occurred in 
1785, he must have occupied his own 
house on Front Street. From that time 
until a few months ago it was the Gilman 
homestead. Three generations of the 
family have lived under its roof, and it 
was from Nathaniel's grandchildren that it 
was purchased for The Phillips Exeter 
Academy. Though altered and put to 
new uses by its present owners, it still 
fittingly bears the name of the family 
which has given it distinction. 

The property must have come into the 
hands of Nathaniel Gilman very near the 
time when the Academy was first opened. 
How strange it would have seemed to him, 
if he could have looked on into the future 
through another century, and could have 
seen his house and the broad farm lands 
stretching southward to the river appro- 
priated at last to the uses of his neighbor 
lohn Phillips's school, the only visible man- 
ifestation of which at that time was the 
little wooden building" perched on a hill 

" This first Academy building, erected in 1783, 
is now occupied as a dwelling-house on upper 
Front Street, a half-mile distant from its original 
site. 



to the westward, beyond " Tan Lane." 
Less than a dozen years later his brother 
John Taylor had given the land for the 
present yard on Front Street, and a large 
school building had been erected in plain 
view of the Gilman parlor windows. 

The wife that Nathaniel Gilman brought 
to his new home was the Rev. Woodbridge 
Odlin's daughter Abigail, a girl of seven- 
teen, who had been born in the Odlin 
homestead close by and was still living 
there at the time of her marriage. This 
union effected an odd interlocked rela- 
tionship , between the (iilman and Odlin 
families, for Nathaniel's sister Elizabeth 
had come to the Odlin house three years 
before as the wife of the eldest son ; that 
is, sister and brother of one family had 
married brother and sister of another. It 
seems not improbable that Colonel Nich- 
olas Crilman had i)urchased Dr. Odlin's 
house, as described above, in order to 
provide a home for his daughter near and 
yet separate from her husband's family. 
But, as we have seen, when her father died 
and the property was divided, this house 
fell not to her but to her brother Nathaniel. 
Two years later he married his sister-in- 



12 



THE c. I i..\f A \ ii()r>r: 



law Al)igail and came to live as neighlujr 
to the Odlins. lltimately he became 
])Ossessor also of his wife's old home. 
When the imrchase was made cannot be 
determined ; perhaps it was even after her 
death, but at all events both lots were 
under the (iilman title a» early as 1802, 
when rhinehas Merrill's map" was pub- 
lished. Therein the older Odlin home- 
stead bears the name '* Xath' (irilman 
Esfp," while the larger house, which 
served as the owner's residence, is dis- 
tinguished by the sounding appellation of 
" Nath' (lilman's Seat." 

Mistress then of this seat became young 
Abigail. She could not have found her 
new station and duties altogether easy. 
Kxeter was the virtual capital of the state, 
and her husband belonged to a family 
which occuj)ied high official and social po- 
sition. Nathaniel's distinguished brother 
Nicholas, being unmarried, made his home 
with him, and was a member of the house- 
hold when iHiblic duties did not recjuire 
his jjresence at the national capital. A 
strong bent toward territorial expansion 



'* This is preserved in the town library, and is 
an extremely entertaining delineation o( Exeter as 
it was a century ago. All tin- necessary dry de- 
tails of the gengra|)lu-r's art arc indeed present, 
h.ut so varied and eniivene<l l)y the addition of cer- 
tain pictorial elements that the observer seems to 
see the oUl town itself actually taking shape before 
his eyes. The houses are not represented by 
mere blobs of ink, but by real, living shapes, with 
gables, chimneys, doors, and windows. Rising 
smol«; alone is wanting. The churches all have 
steeples, and the Academy a bell-tower. Tiie 
water (lows in wavy lines along the docks, and 
full-rigged ships are passing to and fro. We miss 
only the dragons and griliins on the western lior- 
der, which Mr. Merrill might have drawn in to 
indicate the wild and imexjilored regions of Brent- 
wood. In this ma]), it is interesting to note, there 
is standing l)e(ore the (iilman mansion a large tree, 
without doubt the same great elm that still towers 
over the old roof, and that in later years gave the 
residence the name of " Under the Kim." 



has characterized many of the fiilmans, 
.Much of the land lying smith of Front 
Street was gradually ac(iuired by Nathaniel, 
and became a ]>art of the great farm that 
ultimately stret( hed a mile or more along 
the banks of the " fresh river." Upon 
the wife of such a landholder must rest 
the care and direction of no mean (U)- 
mestfc establishment, with aH the varied 
occupations and industries which were 
found in the old New England farmstead. 
In the yard beside the mansion-house 
were a barn and other fami-lniildings, 
where were kept horses and oxen, cows 
and swine and jjoultry. On the other side 
of the house, to the eastward, was a large 
garden extending far back, filled with old- 
fashioned flowering plants and fruits and 
vegetables. Beyond that the farm ran otT 
into cultivated fields, ])astures, and finally 
extensive woodlands. '^ 'ITie neighbors 
were few. To the west were the Odiins, 
and to the east another minister's family, 
Mr, Mansfield's, with no Elm Street yet 
between. Across the way the land was un- 
occupied, except for a single house on the 
site of the present Baptist Church. There 
is no knowing when the first ell was added 
to the house, but in all likelihood it was 
as early as this, for the main jjart of the 
house alone could have hardly provided 
living-room enough for the growing family 
and the servants male and female whom 
the work of farm and kit( hen required. 
During this period Colonel Ciilman was 
the financial agent of the federal govern- 
ment, and also the treasurer of the state. 
The more or less ])iiblic ])lace of business 
which his duties rendered necessary was 
])rovided by the little room on the ground 
llcjor called the " office." It was in the 
northeast corner of the house, and now 
constitutes the streetward end of the long 

'^Charles H. Bell, " John Taylor Oilman, 

M.D." 



THE CrILMAN HOUSE 



13 



library, the partition having been torn 
away in 1815, when so many other alter- 
ations were made. A letter written to 
his brother Nicholas one February gives a 
pleasing though somewhat frigid picture 
of the worthy Treasurer at work here : 
" The Robins have been plenty all winter. 
While writing I have seen one fluttering 
round my Office window, although it is so 
cold as for ink to freeze in my pen." 

The first of Nathaniel Oilman's eleven 
children was born in 1787 and christened 
Frances. A second daughter, named after 



elected by the citizens of his state. His 
connection with the Continental treasury 
has already been referred to. Before he 
had reached his forty-fifth year he had 
been a member once of the lower house 
of the state legislature and twice of the 
senate. The post of state treasurer he 
occupied for eight terms. There is no 
doubt that he could have played a more 
important part in politics had he been in- 
clined, but he knew his own tastes and 
refused to do them violence. A remark 
found in one of his letters to his brother 




THE OILMAN MEADOW, NOW BECOME THE I'LlMlTdN I'LAVINCi MELDS 



her mother, Abigail, was born two years 
later, and a son, who received his father's 
name, Nathaniel, in 1793. The birth of 
the third daughter occurred on the same 
day as her mother's death, August 10, 
1796. Abigail Odlin had been mistress 
of the (iilman mansion eleven years, and 
was but twenty-eight years old at her 
death. The eldest of the four children 
left thus motherless was not yet nine. 
The infant daughter was given the name 
of Ann, which her grandmother Oilman 
had borne. Mention will be made of 
these four children again on a later page. 
In public life Colonel Oilman was less 
eminent than his two older brothers, yet 
at various times he held positions of honor 
and responsibility to which he had been 
appointed by the federal government or 



Nicholas, then a member of the Conti- 
nental Congress, expresses aptly his judg- 
ment of himself in this relation : " You 
say you were in hoaps that 1 would have 
gone into the Legislature. I think I am 
better fitted for a private than a public 
life." In another letter, written several 
years later, after his eldest brother, John 
Taylor, had become governor of the state, 
he hits off the anxious sensitiveness of the 
jniblic man to the breath of popular favor 
with a delicate touch of humor (juite out 
of accord with his usual dry epistolary 
style: "'i'he (rovernor has been in high 
health, for him, for a number of months 
]jast, is more corpulent than I ever saw 
him before — perhaps his official conduct 
meeting the approbation and applause of 
the people of his own and other states, 



u 



I II r: (i 1 i.M A N HorsE 



has contributed in part to his health," 
It need hardly he addeil that Colonel Cril- 
man was often elected to the imj^ortant 
town offi< es, and was a leader in public- 
enterprises of various kinds. 

The place in the dilnian homestead left 
vacant by the death of the wife and mother 
was fillcil by a second marriage, Nathan- 
iel writes to his brother Nicholas: "On 
the 1 2th Inst. I went to Portsni'*' and took 
a partner to assist at the other end of the 
yoke, I shall not at this time bestow any 
l)anegyricks, but re(]uest you to come and 
see for yourself," The new yoke-fellow 
was Dorothea Folsom, granddaughter of 
(ieneral Nathaniel Folsom, a distinguished 
Revolutionary soldier. 'ITie two families 
had already been allied through the mar- 
riage of her aunt to Nathaniel's brother, 
John Taylor, twenty years before. That 
the other meml)ers of the (iilman family 
regarded the match with favor seems evi- 
dent from a letter written to Nathaniel a 
fortnight after the wedding by his brother 
Daniel, then in Boston engaged in foreign 
trade : " 1 feel very particularly pleased at 
the Partnershi]) you have lately engaged 
in. Say to Dolly that in me she is always 
to find a regular and uniformly affectionate 
brother." Dorothea was twenty-one at 
the time of her marriage, and remained 
mistress of the (Iilman mansion from that 
time till her death. No other one life has 
been so long and intimatelv connected 
with it. 1 )uring more than sixty years she 
directed the affairs of the household. 
F'leven children grew lo manhood and 
womanhood under her care, and during 
her last years she lived in dail)- < ontact 
with grandchildren and even great-grand- 
children. 

" The house was the abode of jjlenty 
and hos])itality and charity. Whenever a 
farmers' meeting occurred, or the court 
opened its session, or any other extra- 



ordinary oc<asion brought an influx of 
strangers into town, the C'ok)nel caused 
the ' long room ' to be filled with tiibles, 
and scores of invited guests partook of 
his bountiful hospitality. It was the rule 
of the house that no one should dejiart 
thence unfilled. The mistress of the es- 
Uiblishment was a heljj meet for such a 
master. She had the whole art of house- 
keeping at her fingers' ends. Handsome 
as she was reputed to be in her young 
ladyhood, she seemed to grow even hand- 
somer with added years. Her trim figure 
])ecame a little more full, while her dark 
eyes and her fresh ric h color jtreserA-ed 
every jot of their brightness. She, too, 
was the impersonation of hospitality, and 
dispensed a liberal charity among her 
neighbors less favored by fortune. .She 
was never so hai)py as in giving and her 
pensioners were a numerous band.'"^ 

It is remembered that Daniel Webster 
was entertained by Colonel (iilman at his 
home when court business brought the 
great lawyer to the town, 'i'he house was 
always open to guests on the occasion of 
Academy anniversaries, and many of the 
distinguished graduates of the school have 
enjoyetl its hospitality. There exists also 
a well authenticated tradition attesting 
the <ordial relations maintained in the 
early days l)etween the (iihnan household 
and the Academy Faculty. In the south- 
west corner of the cellar, where coal is 
now stored, was formerly the wine-chamber. 
In the dining-room immediately above it, 
and in easy communication with it. stood 
an ancient sideboard. Here, it is said, 
could always be found decanter and glasses 
for the refreshment of the .Academy teacher 
who might wish to drop in l)etween reci- 
tations. If so admiral)le a custom neeils 
any justification, it may perhaps be found 

•< Charles 11. Bell, "John Taylor Cnlman, 
M. D." 



THE (ULMAN HOUSE 



15 





THE OILMAN MANSION IN THE SIXTIES 



Jn the fact that the teaching hours in 
those days began at nine in the morning 
and ended at five in the afternoon. 

The first child of the second marriage 
was born in 1799, and named after his 
uncle and grandfather, Nicholas. During 
the next twelve years the family was in- 
creased by six other children, Samuel 
Taylor, Daniel, John Taylor, all named in 
honor of brothers of Colonel (iilman, then 
Charles Edwin, Joseph Taylor, and a 
daughtor, Mary Olivia. But even before 
this growth had ceased, the breaking up 
of the family had l:)egun. At no time 
were all eleven children together under 
the same roof. A year before the birth of 
the youngest child the first wedding oc- 
curred, when the eldest daughter, Frances, 
married and left the home. Her husband 
was Colonel John Rogers, a student of the 
Academy in 1804, cashier of the Exeter 
bank, and a local politician of note. It 
was Frances, too, who first of all the chil- 
dren died. This was in 182 1.'' In the 
year following her loss Colonel Rogers 
married and took from her home a second 
daughter of the (iilman family, Ann, the 
youngest child of Abigail Odlin. She, 
like her mother and elder sister, died in 
her young womanhood. The name of one 
of her descendants is well known to Exe- 

'* The death of the last, Marj' O. Long, occur- 
red in 1904. 



ter and to old Academy boys. \\Mlliam 
Perry Chadwick, a graduate of Phillips- 
Exeter in 1882, and a member of the 
Board of Trustees at the time of his death 
in 1904, was her grandson. He was 
always received at the Oilman house as a 
kinsman. 

Nathaniel the younger, the own brother 
of Frances and Ann, was the second of 
the children to leave his father's house. 
Some half-dozen years after the marriage 
of Frances, he had gone to distant Phila- 
delphia to seek his fortune, associating 
himself in business there with one of his 
Odlin relatives. The removal of his part- 
ner from the city and his own ill health 
induced him to return to his native town 
in 1819. He purchased the farm border- 
ing the fresh river, just above the (ireat 
Bridge on the " Hemlock Side," and lived 
there until his death in 1858."* The old 
dwelling-house which he occupied now 
stands deserted on the crest of a little hill 
overlooking the river at the first turn. 
When the young Nathaniel returned from 
Philadelphia, he brought with him as his 
wife a gentle little Quakeress, named 

"He was a somewhat reticent, austere man, 
and not without a touch of martial ardor. When 
Portsmouth was threatened by the British fleet in 
1814, Ca])tain Nal, as he was called, marched to 
the scene of danger with his militia company. 
That the campaign was bloodless was no fault of 
the Exeter soldiery. 



16 



'in F" (i I I..M A \ i[nr < f: 



Elizabeth (lanliner." Stories are still told 
of her (juaint speech and elegant manners, 
and the profound impression uhi( h they 
made upon the ruder New Kngland folk. 
Three of their children are still living on 
the home farm, John (lardiner, now jiresi- 
dent of the New Hampshire So( iety of the 
Cincinnati, (lardiner, and Klizaheth Fran- 
ces. Both sons were educated at Phillijjs- 
P^xeter, and are among its oldest gradu- 
ates. 

A year or two after Nathaniel had left 
home, .Abigail, the second daughter, was 
married to Dr. William Perry, a young 
physician who had been practising in the 
town about four years. He afterwards 
became one of the most eminent members 
of his profession in the state, and in the 
town of Exeter during a great part of the 
last century he was perha])s the one actu- 
ally indispensable citizen. The present 
generation knows him chiefly as the father 
of John 'laylor Ferry, for many years a 
member of the .-Xcademy Board of 'I'rus- 
tees, and of Dr. \\illiam (iilman Perry, 
the venerable dean of the present Exeter 
])ractitioners, still called sometimes by 
way of distinction the "young Dr. Perry." 
It is told of .Abigail's wedding that it 
occurred in the little northwest parlor. 
As the older sister in a large family, she 
had assumed much of the care of the 
younger children, '("here is a story that 
the latest born, little six-year-old Joseph 
Taylor, on the occasion of his dear sis- 
ter's wedding, refused to submit to the 
changed order of things and ran awav to 
her new home, whence for a long time he 
could not be persuaded to return. 

.Although Colonel Nathaniel Cilman's 
brother John Taylor was never an occu- 
pant of our (iilman house, he was through- 

" A small street which has been carved out >>f 
the Gilman fields in recent years perpetuates this 
lady's name. 



out his life so closely associated with the 
family that his career deserves at least 
brief mention. His earlier life has been 
sjjoken of above, l'|>on his father's death 
he assumed the duties of state treasurer, 
and remained in the ofifice almost contin- 
uously till the time of his elevation to the 
chief magistracy. He was the second 
governor of the state, and was elected to 




l".<n . |()ll\ I AN IHK lillMAN 

this office fourteen times, first for eleven 
years in succession, and then, after an inter- 
val of Republican ascendancy, for a sec- 
ond period of three years. When he retired 
from ])ublic life in 1816, he was by far 
the most distinguished man in the suite, 
and well known beyond its borders. His 
interest in education is evinced bv his 
service on the board of trustees of Dart- 



THE (HLMAN HOUSE 



17 



mouth College, and by his connection 
with the academy near his own home. 
John Phillips himself designated Governor 
(rilman as his successor on the Academy 
board. He was president of the board 
from 1796 to 1827, and during a part of 
this period the Academy treasurer as well. 
The land comprised in the present yard 
was his gift. He and his brother Nathaniel 
were members of the committee which 
provided for the locatioij and erection of 
the second Academy building. During 



olas, can more appropriately claim a place 
in a history of the (jilman mansion, for it 
was his home during the greater part of 
his mature life. His career as an officer 
in the Continental army has been men- 
tioned on an earlier page. After the war 
was over, he engaged to some extent in 
foreign trade in partnership with his 
brother Daniel. Through this and through 
a shrewd as well as patriotic investment in 
government securities, he amassed a con- 
siderable fortune. He was sent bv New 




THE OILMAN HOUSE IN 1S25' 



the years of his public life his residence 
was the old house of his father, the present 
Cincinnati Hall. From him the little 
street running past the house took its name 
of Governor's Lane. Soon after his re- 
tirement to private life he removed to 
Front Street, and thenceforth lived a 
neighbor'- to his brother Nathaniel. 

Colonel Gilman's second brother, Nich- 

'* In a house which is still standing. It is the 
large double house across the way from the Meth- 
odist Church. The Governor's garden adjoined 
Nathaniel's. 



Hampshire as a delegate to the National 
Convention of 1787, and was a signer of 
the Constitution. Its adoption two years 
later opened to him a career in national 
politics. During the nineties he was elected 
to the house of representatives for four 
successive terms. In 1805, while his 

'^ This sketch was made by one of the brothers 
William Bourne Oliver Peabody and Oliver William 
Bourne Peabody, Exeter boys, who were students, 
and later instructors, in the Academy. The two 
figures at the left represent (Governor John Taylor 
Gilman at different distances, the one at the right 
Colonel Nathaniel Gilman. 




CAPT. NICHOLAS c;il.MAN 
UNITKI) STAIKS sKNAIok 1- l;0:.! M-.\V II \\l I>1II KK 



THE (;iLMAN HOUSE 



ly 



brother was governor, he was elected to 
the national senate from New Hampshire, 
and was in his second term when he died. 
A great part of these years must of course 
have been spent at home in Exeter. The 
room reserved for him in his brother's 
house was the southwest chamber in the 
second story. It was much smaller then 
than now, the position of the old outer 
wall being indicated by the exposed timber 
in the present ceiling. There he kept the 
" desks, books, maps, guns, swords, pistols, 
papers, and wearing apparel " which he 
mentions in his will. His letters are 
written in an excellent style, not lacking 
the laborious dignity and formality char- 
acteristic of the period, yet clear and 
forceful. They betray a vigorous intellect 
and large views. He was diffident of his 
capacity for public speech, but on paper 
certainly he was able to put a case forcibly, 
and even eloquently. In one of his letters 
is found a chance remark that expresses an 
almost touching depreciation of his own 
powers. He is giving reasons for his dis- 
like of a certain acquaintance : " I never 
was very intimate with him, his habits were 
something different from mine — besides, he 
had wit and I had none." In his long and 
numerous letters to his brother Nathaniel 
he writes chiefly of national politics and 
finance, if not with " wit," still certainly 
with an earnestness and grasp that give 
evidence of his eminent fitness for the 
high station which he occupied. 

Almost as characteristic of Senator 
Nicholas as the *' swords, books, and pa- 
pers " was the "wearing apparel." He 
dressed with extreme care and elegance. 
Not gigantic, like Nathaniel, nor portly, 
like the (rovernor, he possessed a graceful, 
erect figure, of slightly more than medium 
height, and a carriage of great dignity. 
His long familiarity with (leneral A\"ash- 
ington's leading officers and with the cul- 



tivated and polished society of the cities 
to the southward was reflected in his courtly 
manners and faultless dress. These must 
have rendered him a striking figure in the 
little New Hampshire town. When Wash- 
ington visited Exeter in 1789 and was 
entertained in the Folsom Tavern on the 
village square, it was his former staff-offi- 
cer. Captain Nicholas (rilman, who was 
appointed to do the honors. It would be 
natural that a gentleman possessing such 
personal graces and following the profes- 
sion of arms should be uncommonly at- 
tractive to women, and he is known to 
have been so, but in spite of this and of 
the example of his brothers, one of whom 
was thrice wedded, he remained unmarried 
throughout his life. 

As Senator (iilman was passing through 
Philadelphia on his way home from Wash- 
ington in the spring of 18 14, he was 
taken suddenly and violently ill in his 
lodgings, and died within a few days. 
Two of his Odlin relatives, whose home 
was in the city, being apprised of his illness, 
took him to their house and attended him 
during his last hours. The letter in which 
they informed Nathaniel of his brother's 
death is still preserved. His courage, 
dignity, and courtesy, maintained even 
under the shadow of death, impressed them 
deeply. Benjamin Ives Ciilman, an Ohio 
relative, who chanced to be in Philadel- 
phia a few days later, learned from them 
the circumstances of Senator (iilman's 
death, and wrote a consolatory letter to 
the Exeter brother. " During his illness," 
the letter runs, " he was not for a moment 
deranged ; and his mind appeared active, 
unclouded, and perfectly serene thro' the 
whole progress of the disease. He ex- 
hibited all the firmness of character, and 
delicate propriety of conduct in sickness, 
for which he was so remarkable in health." 

In the catalogue of The Phillips Exeter 



20 



1 UK (ill, M AN HO LSE 



Academy is published every year a list of 
the benefactions which have been received 
by the school since the founder's death. 
Second in this list stands the gift of 
Nicholas (iilnian. It is thus describe<l in 
his will : "To the Phillips Exeter Acad- 
emy I give and betpieath one thousand 
dollars, to be paid into the hands of the 
Trustees thereof, the interest of which to 
be ai)])lied by them annually for the sole 
purpose of promoting antl perfectionatirg 
such solemn Music as is most proper to be 
performed in Churches." 




TIIK SIAIKWAV 

The greater part of Senator (lilman's 
wealth was left to Nathaniel. The recip- 
ient was already the owner of an extensive 
landed estate, but the rearing and educa- 
tion of a large family, a liberal hospitality, 
and a si)aci()us manner of li\iiig drew so 
heavily ujjon his resources that his broth- 
er's generous legacy brought a welcome 
relief. This became manifest the follow- 
ing year in an e\ident attempt to improve 



and adorn the old house. It was at this 
time that the little offit e and the room 
back of it were thrown into one to make 
the present " long room," or library, 
ICbenezer Clifford,*" a very skilful handi- 
craftsman, who was associated with Colonel 
( lilman in the building of the First Church 
and is reputed to have been its architect, 
made the paneling of the "little parlor" 
and the exipiisite balusters on the main 
stairway. P^ven thus early the size of the 
window-pane seems to have been the meas- 
ure of jjrogress in domestic architecture. 
The old frames, holding thirty-six jjanes 
for each window, were removed, and re- 
placed b\- those whit h are now in use."' 

It is impossible to say much that is 
definite about the furnishings of the (Oil- 
man rooms. An old inventory makes it 
certain that there was a forest of mahogany 
chairs and no small number of tables of 
the same material. But this, of course, 
signified less then than now. Perhaps the 
several ])ieces of " Brussails carpet" were 
held in higher esteem, and the new " sheet 
iron stove" jjreferred to the " Brass fire 
sett." On the whole it would seem that 
the house was anijjly but not richly fur- 
nished. In so large a family everything 
must have been in constant use. 

The little southwest chamber made va- 
cant by the death of Nicholas was appro- 
priated to the use of the master and mis- 
tress, and thenceforth occupied l)y them 
as long as they lived. The large chamber 
in the northeast corner was kept as the 
spare room. On the ground fioor, the 
small room at the right of the front door 
has always served as a parlor, anil the one 
bai k of it as a dining room, in place of the 
two doors that now o])en out of the latter 

*" The same with whom the Academy student 
Daniel Webster lived. 

*' The hill for the glass happens to have been 
preserved. It amounted to ninety odd dollars. 



THE OILMAN HOUSE 



21 




THE LONG HOUSE 



room into the alco\e were formerly two 
windows looking out over the yard. It is 
evident that this dining-room was once 
much smaller than it is now. Not im- 
probably it was enlarged in 1815, the 
change being effected by pushing the 
house-wall outward toward the south. The 
long room across the hall was most useful 
on public occasions. The great dinners 
were spread there, when distinguished 
guests came, or the relatives gathered for 
the Thanksgiving feast, or the mistress's 
birthday was celebrated. 

In 1829, Mary, the fourth daughter of 
Nathaniel (iilman, was married to John 
C. Long, of Portsmouth, a young naval 
ofificer who had won distinction in the war 
of 181 2. For a year or two Mrs. Long 
and her husband made their home with 
her father, the "little parlor" and the 
chamber above it being set apart for their 
use. About ten years later, after Court 
Street had been laid out across Colonel 



Oilman's farm, and Moulton's Lane had 
lengthened into Elm Street, Mrs. Long 
received from her father an acre of land 
lying at the nether end of his garden, where 
she should establish a permanent home."'^ 
The house that was built there under 
Commodore Long's supervision was occu- 
pied by him until his death in 1865, and 
by his widow until 1 904. From her niece, 
Miss Mary Long Oilman, it was purchased 
by the McAlpin brothers, and constitutes 
a part of their gift to the Academy. It 
will continue to be called ])y the name of 
the family which erected and occupied it. 
The great trees that overshadow it were 
planted by Mrs. Long's own hands. 

The memory of this last of Nathaniel 
Oilman's children is still fresh in Exeter. 
A few can recall the dignity and gracious- 
ness of her middle age, perhaps even 
something of the brilliancy and charm of 
her youth. There is none who does not 

-'-' The family called it " Longacre." 



22 



THE Gil. MAX HOLSE 



remember meeting her carriage often in 
these last years as it drove slowly along 
High Street every day at precisely the 
same hour, and seeing behind the closed 
window the little lady bowed down with 
the weight of nigh a hundred years. It 
was her custom until near the end of her 
life to spend her birthday in the old home- 
stead where she was born, and on these 
occasions her numerous relatives gathered 
to offer their feli( itations. More than 
ninetv c-andles burned upon the last cake 



named in honor of his uncle the (iovernor, 
having spent six years in The Phillips Ex- 
eter Academy under the tuition of Dr. 
Abbot, entered Bowdoin College and was 
graduated there in 1S26. Returning to 
Flxeter, he l)egan the study of medicine 
with I )r. William Perry and remained in 
his office for two years. His industry and 
amiability did not fail to win the praise even 
of his exacting preceptor. " He is good 
in all ways," the Doctor was wont to say. 
" Everv one liked him." To courteous 




COM. JOHN COLLINS I.DNO, U. S. N. 

that was cut in her honor. When the pow- 
ers of body and mind had become impaired 
by age and the doors of her senses almost 
closed to the outer world, her flickering 
memory would still at times light up the 
remote i)ast, and she would speak of her 
father and her brothers as if they still 
lived, and of the old house as she knew it 
in her girlhood. 

Two of Colonel (lilman's sons received 
a college education and entered jjrofes- 
sions. John Taylor, born in 1S06, and 




MRS. MARY OLIVLA LONG 

manners were addeil a sweet voice and 
remarkable musical"'' accomplishments. 
After receiving his mediial degree. Dr. 
(lilman settled first in Philadeljihia, and 
later in lV)rtland, Me., where he remainetl 
until his death in 1884. 



■-'■' Indeed there was much nuisic in the Ciihiian 
l»)use while the children were still at home. John's 
older Ijrother, Samuel, likewise possessed an unu- 
sual voice, and Mrs. I.onjj was an excellent so- 
prano. The story is told that her hnsliand first saw 
her at a musical entertainment in Portsmouth, and 
was captivated by the sweetness of her voice. 



THE C; I L M A N HOUSE 



23 



Compared with his long and active ca- 
reer, the life of his brother Samuel Tay- 
lor seems brief and tragic. He entered 
the Academy in 1811, a lad of ten. 
(xeorge Bancroft, one year his senior, was 
a fellow-student, and must have been fre- 
quently a guest in the Oilman home. I'hey 
were later in Harvard together, although 
not in the same class.*^ Samuel Oilman 
was graduated from the college with high 
honors in 1819, and returned to his old 
school the following year as an instructor.''^ 
After a single year of teaching, he began 
the study of law under Jeremiah Smith, 
a former governor and chief justice of the 
Superior Court. From 1823 to 1835 he 
practised his profession in his native town. 
At the age of twenty-eight he represented 
Exeter in the state legislature. His talents 
were exceptional, and his high character 
and attractive personal qualities easily won 
him the esteem and affection of his fellow- 
citizens. No young man of his day seemed 
to have before him a brighter future than 
the handsome, brilliant Samuel Oilman. 
But before he had reached his thirty-fifth 
year the New Englander's arch-enemy, 
consumption, fastened upon him, and its 
cruel hold was loosened only by death. 
He died in the winter of 1835, in one of 

*■* At the celebration of the Centennial of the 
Academy in 1883, Mr. Bancroft was entertained at 
the house where his old schoolmate had lived. A 
chance remark of his, made at that time, was re- 
membered by his hostess. P'ront Street, he said, 
seemed marvelously shrunken since he was a boy. 
In his memor)' it was a stately avenue. It hurt 
him to return and find it merely a village street. 
It will be interesting to many to learn that 
nother famous Academy boy, Joseph G. Cogswell, 
ho was joint founder with Ceorge Bancroft of the 
ebrated Round Hill School, of Northampton, 
s., was the husband of Samuel Oilman's cousin 
, the daughter of the (Governor, 
lis colleagues were Dr. Abbot, Professor Ilil- 

, and Gideon L. Soule. This was Mr. Soule's 

second year of service. 



the upper chambers of his father's house. 
The members of his family were with him, 
and also the woman to whom he was be- 
trothed, Margaret Forbes, of Milton, Mass., 
a relative of Dr. Abbot's family. During 
the last weeks of her lover's illness she was 
constantly at his side, and unwearied in 
her devotion. Dr. Perry, who observed 
her courageous conduct during this su- 
preme trial, was wont to speak of her as a 
" wonderful woman." 

From this time on the household rapidly 
dwindled, as one and another removed or 
died. The son Daniel had for ten years 
or more been on the sea or engaged in the 
Chinese trade at Canton. John Taylor 
was in Portland. Mrs. Long was much 
in Exeter, but her father's house was no 
longer her home. And now the Benjamin 
of the family, Joseph Taylor, left home to 
join his brother Daniel in China. He 
sailed in 1835. A letter written by his 
mother about a year later shows clearly 
what this separation cost her, and even the 
reserved old father. Any boy who reads 
it will see that the maternal heart is at all 
times much the same. Having informed 
her son of some jellies that she has pre- 
pared and sent to him by a recent ship, 
she continues : "Write to me particularly 
everything that relates to yourself. You 
must remember that mo/hers are very 
anxious for their children. . . Mary and 
Mr. Long left us in Nov. for Philadelphia 
to be absent 3 wks. . . . Oh, Joseph, 
you have no idea how much we xn\%?, you. 
Father says when it comes evening, how I 
do miss Joseph, and that is remarkable, 
for he is not apt to miss anyone." Before 
five years had passed she had lost three 
other sons, Nicholas, her first-born, Daniel, 
who died alone in Mexico on his home- 
ward journey, and Charles, who died at 
sea. The eleven children had left them 
one by one, and the father and mother 



24 



TH E ('. I l.M A N II OlSK 



were now in the oM house alone. We 
need not be told that the solitude was 
burdensome, " when it tomes evening." 
The aged father thus writes to Joseph in 
1843 : "How many more winters I shall 
live to see is known only to that Hcjly 
Being who has upheld me hitherto. All 
my youthful acMjuaintances are gone, and 
there are only two men in town older than 
myself. ... Be assured you are ne\er 
out of m\ mind during' my waking hours, 




COI.. NATH AMKI, C.ILMAN 

and often in the visions of the night. 1 
thank you, my dear son, for the many 
kind attentions you have paid me and your 
dear mother." 

There are many still li\ing who can 
remember Colonel (iilman as he was dur- 
ing his later life. It would indeed have 
been difficult for the childish observer to 
forget this quaint and striking figure. He 
was over six feet tall, with a frame still 
unbent. In accordance with the fashion 



of his young manhood, he continued to 
wear the ruffled shirt-front and the queue. 
Upon his large and rugged features sat a 
look most grave, if not severe. A grand- 
son's letter describes the venerable Col- 
onel as still vigorous and busied with 
various concerns, or as seated in his son's 
store on Water Street recounting his mem- 
ories of the Revolutionary war, or of the 
j>aper-money rebellion, in the suppression 
of which he had played a soldier's part. 

The last year of his life was made happy 
by the return of his beloved son Joseph, 
who after an absence of eleven years came 
tu make his home again under his father's 
roof. Joseph had been diligent and pru- 
dent in business, and had pros])ered. He 
returned to Exeter a rich man. His 
parents coiild not but be proud of his 
achievements, and enjoy the sense of se- 
curity which his wealth gave, but their 
chief satisfaction must have been in the 
steadfast devotion to them and his old 
home. '' Neither the excitement and the 
gains of business," writes his friend Or. 
Nicholas E. Soule,** " nor the multitudi- 
nous attractions of his eastern life had 
weaned him from it. Through the chan- 
nels of that strange experience had been 
flowing, all the while, the cherished, un- 
obtrusive current of unchanged early pre- 
ferences, desires, and hopes." 

In the letter written to his son Josejjh, 
Colonel ("iilman had s]>oken uncertainly 
of the winters that might still be left to 
him. They were but four. He died in 
lanuary, i>^47. The night before his 
death he was brought into the "long 
room" liv the faithful old negro retainer, 
Charles Tash, and knowing that his last 
hour was approaching, spoke to the 
members of the family gathered about 
him concerning his burial and the manner 
in which thev should honor his memory. 

''" Arthur Gilman, "The Gilman Family." 



THE (ilLMAN HOUSE 



25 



He repeatedly charged them that every- 
thing should be done with the utmost 
simplicity, and that their grief should not 
be marked by mourning apparel. "Avoid 
ostentation, spend u])on the living, not 
upon the dead." \Mien Charles Tash 
came in to remove him for the night, he 
remarked : " I have no dis])osition to 
leave this pleasant circle. I love to l)e 
here surrounded by my friends and dear 
children ; " then after briefly commending 
to them the worship and service of Ood, 
" I am ready to go, and wish you all good 
night." 

Joseph came into possession of the farm, 
and devoted himself to its care and im- 
provement with the same industry that 
had characterized his career in business. 
Like his father he loved the land, and the 
management of his large estate was under- 
taken with zest and carried on with ever 
increasing satisfaction. He was familiar 
with every acre of his fields, and as proud 
and fond of them as of the venerable 
homestead and his native town. " Mad- 
am " Oilman, as his mother was wont to 
be called, after the American manner of 
designating ladies of superior position, 
still presided over the household with un- 
diminished authority and dignity, and 
continued to do so even after her son's 
marriage. Mr. Oilman's regard for her 
was profound, and the last years of her 
life were filled with the comfort of his 
constant attention and care. She lived 
to see his sons born and growing up at her 
side. Her long and beneficent reign was 
terminated by her death in 1859. 

The new mistress who took the place of 
Madam Crilman had been a member of the 
family since her marriage to Joseph nine 
years before. This was Mary Elizabeth 
Orav, who was born in Boston, in 1826, 
the daughter of Harrison Oray and Clarissa 
Eastham. After her father's death she had 



come to live in her mother's old home at 
Exeter. The house stood almost across 
the way from the (rilman mansion, and is 
now occupied by Mr. A. S. Wetherell. 
Like Dorothea Folsom, she came to the 
homestead a young woman and spent there 




MRS. DOROTHEA OILMAN 



the greater part of a long life. During 
two generations the home was but the 
expression of her gracious personality. 
She guided its affairs, dispensed its hos- 
pitality, and bestowed its charity. The 
dignity, orderliness, and refinement which 
distinguished it were the visible forms of 
her spirit. She honored and maintained 
its traditions, and in her, the last mistress, 
its history had a fitting close. 

The structural changes which the house 
has undergone in the last half-century can 
be briefly described. In 1859 the old ell 
was removed to give place to the present 
one. The discarded building is now occu- 
pied as a tenement-house on South Street. 
In this same year plumbing was put in, 
the library got its marble mantel, the front 



26 



I n K C, I I.M A \ II Ol SE 



door was enlarged to its present dimen- 
sions, and the front porch added, h was 
at this time also that the bra* keted caps 
were mounted over the front windinvs. 
There is reason for regret that the carpen- 
ter to whom the work was intrusted di<l 
not show a greater regard for an hitectural 
consistency in apjilying his ornament. I'n- 
fortunately the so-called Colonial revival 
had not yet made the New Kngland builder 
conscious of the high value of the old 
models. About 1865 the bay-window was 
added to the parlor, and in 18(84 the din- 
ing-room was extended westwartl by the 
addition of the large semicin ular alcove 
constructed to hold Mrs. Kell's collection 
of rare china. .\t the same time the lorg 
east veranda, whose roof overhung the 
library windows, was torn away, and the 
present platform and balustrade put in its 
place.*' The hard-wood floors of the halls 
were laid in 1889, when also the diamond 
ceiling was put in the library and the room 
above. 'I'he ceiling of the old dining- 
room is five years older. The little south- 
west chamber, which had been occuj^ieil by 
Senator Nicholas, later by Mrs. Dorothea 
(iilman, and finally bs her granddaughter 
Mary, was enlarged in 1878 by an exten- 
sion to the southward, to make it flush 
with the outer wall of the dining-room 
below. The window s]«ce was in<reased 
at the same time, and the room given its 
chara< teristic sunny asj^ect. The tiles 
about the fireplace, on which are depicted 
scenes from the Idylls of the King, give 
evidence of the deej) impression which the 

'^ Meanwhile the larm-buildin^s suffered alter- 
ations. 'Vhc lonj; stnicture which stfXMl between 
house and l>arn and sen'cd as carriajje-house and 
woodshed was l)roken aj)art and carried away. A 
fraj;nu-nt of it is now to he seen anions the small 
buildinjjs opposite the railroad station. The old 
stal>le was then pushed forward a few feet into its 
present positinn and promoted io ser\'e as wixai- 
house. 



writings of Tennyson had made on the 
imagination of his readers in those days. 

It was only three years after the loss of 
his mother, and when he had hardly ar- 
rived at middle age, that Josei>h (iilman 
died. His life in Kxeter after the return 




JOSEl'U TAVl.uk (ilK.MA.N 

from China had been iiuiet and unevent- 
ful. I ie had devoted himself to his estate 
and his family, and to the interests of the 
community in so far as a private citizen 
could serve them. Extremely modest and 
distrustful of his own powers, he neither 
sought nor cared for public office. In 
1855 he was prevailed u|)on by the trus- 
tees of his old school. The Phillips Exeter 
Academy, to undertake the duties of treas- 
urer. These he performed until within a 
few months of his decease, hi accepting 
Mr. (iilman's resignation, the trustees re- 
(iucste<l their president to assure him of 
their high appreciation of the "good 
judgment, fidelity, accurate business habits, 
and courtesy whiih he had manifested 
during the whole term of his office as 



THE GILMAN HOUSE 



27 



Treasurer." "* A fellow-townsman thus 
writes of him with evident sincerity and 
feeling : " A man of unimpeachable integ- 
rity, of sound practical judgment, of much 
more than ordinary financial wisdom, of en- 
tire simplicity, yet courteousness of manner, 
of perfect good nature and affability, yet 
never compromising the dignity of a gen- 
tleman, of large wealth, which was gener- 
ously used in response to every call on his 
benevolence, holding important offices 
with the confidence of his fellow-citizens. 
The town of Exeter has lost a noble citi- 
zen ; one who though enriched by a plenty 
of this world's goods, was never above his 
humblest employee. Your correspondent 
has had reason to thank him for many 
favors unsolicited and undeserved." His 
nature was such as to find its deepest sat- 
isfaction in the intimate circle of his home, 
and upon this he lavished his affection 
and care. As for the old homestead itself, 
" He loved it," says Dr. N. E. Soule, 
"with a devoted, fervent passion." 

Mrs. Gilman, now left alone at the head 
of the household, took up the difficult 
duties of her station with unhesitating 
fortitude. The large estate was intrusted 
by her husband's will to her sole manage- 
ment. Although still a young woman and 
entirely unacquainted with affairs, she re- 
fused to delegate to attorneys the care of 
the property which she held in trust for 
her children. With zeal and industry she 
set about the study of her administrative 
duties, and mastered them. Since the 
estate remained undivided, these duties 
rested upon her as long as she lived. They 
were discharged always with the most 
scrupulous fidelity and with wisdom. The 
same qualities of mind and character that 
rendered her an ideal mistress of a house- 
hold were serviceable to her in the man- 
agement of greater matters. Her world 

**Charles H. Bell, "Phillips Exeter Academy." 



was one of order and duty. The death of 
Commodore Long left her sister-in-law 
likewise a widow, to whom she gave un- 
stinted comfort and assistance. The two 
houses were still in the same yard, and 
the intercourse between them during all 
the years since the establishment of the 
Long home had been remarkably close 
and intimate. Mrs, Gilman's solicitude 
and affection for "Aunt Mary," originat- 
ing in this time of their bereavement, 
continued undiminished to the end of her 
life. When Mrs. Long's advanced age 
had rendered her almost entirely depend- 
ent upon others, her personal comfort was 
assured, her affairs administered, her 
health guarded as if by a very daughter. 




COL. EDWAKU UAKKISON C.ILiMAN 

But it was to the care and training of 
her children that Mrs, Gilman most fully 
devoted herself. There had been left with 
her at her husband's death, Daniel, a boy 
of eleven, Edward Harrison, and a daugh- 
ter, name-child of the aunt, Mary Long. 



28 



I II i: C I I,M A N II olSK 



The boys spent their ( hil(lho<j<l and youth 
in the old home under her guidame, and 
in due time married and founded homes 
of their own. Her dauj^hter remained 
her companion till the end of her life. In 
recent years, when all other members of 
the family had gone, and failing health 
had enforced withdrawal from larger social 
life, the ties between mother and child 
were very closely drawn. After her 
mother's death Miss (lilman removed from 
Exeter to the home at Little Hoar's Head, 
which had been built for her. and whi( h 
they had occupied together during several 
summers. There she now lives. 

Her older brother Daniel ha<i entered 
the Academy in iS66, and later Brown 
University. For many years he was en- 
gaged in business in the west. He is now 
a resident of Exeter. His son, likewise 
named Daniel,"" is a student of Phillips- 
Exeter, and the latest of the (lilmans to 
know the ancestral home as it was before 
it passed into the hands of strangers. The 
second brother, Edward Harrison, was 
graduated from DartuKJUth in 1876, and 
engaged in business in Hoston, Dover, and 
I-aconia. His appointment to (iovernor 
Bell's stafT gave him the title of Colonel, 
by which he was commonly known. He 
lived very near his mother in Exeter ami 
was much with her. His death occurred 
with great suddenness in 1901. The last 
conscious moments of his life were passed 
in the house in which he was born. He 

** One luimlrcd and twenty-three years ago, 
wlien the srh<M(l was tirst c)|)fni-<l, another Haniel 
(lilman was amnn^j the stmlents, a l)oyiif tliirtcen. 
He was the hmthcr of mir jiresent Daniel's yreat- 
jjrandfather, and is res|)onsilile (or the reappear- 
ance of the name in each of the three succei-dinjj 
generations. It seems worth wliik- to a<ld that of 
all the (iilnian Imys wlm have Iiccti stii<lcnts of 
the Academy no less than ei^ht were horn and 
brought up in the house which is the subject of 
this article. 



was his father's own son, a modest, ([iiiet, 
capable man, who hatl the esteem of his 
fellow -(itizens and the love of his friends.*' 
.\ son, named after the grandfather, Joseph 
Taylor (lilman, was a member of the Class 
of 1902 in the .A(ademy and of that of 
1905 in Dartmouth College. 




i.O\. ClIAkl.KS UE.NkV HKLI. 

During the last'thirty years the (lilman 
house has most often been (ailed i)y another 
name. It is remembered as the residence 
of ( lovernor and Mrs. Hell. In 1867, Mrs. 
loseph T. Ciilman was married to Charles 
H. Hell, who came to live with her in her 
own home. Through its new master the 
old dwelling attained to even higher honors 
than had distinguished its past. Mr. Bell 

'" What he was in the eyes of his boyhootl as- 
sociates appears in llenry A. Sluite's "Real 
lioys." In the closinj^ paraj^raphs of tiie hook, 
Mr. Shute says of liis old friend: " 'I'he (|ualities 
that made him a leader amonjj boys developed in 
him a pnwcr in the business of his native town and 
state. I Ic was admireil and loved for his rujj^ed 
honesty, his unfailin)^ kindness, cheerfulness, and 
evenness of temper.'' 



THE OILMAN HOUSE 



29 



was already one of the foremost lawyers of 
the state, and had served several terms as 
senator and representative in the legisla- 
ture. Some twelve years after his marriage 
he occupied for a brief period a seat in 
the national senate, and in the two suc- 
ceeding years he was governor of his state. 
His great abilities, high character, and im- 
posing personality fitted him eminently for 
public service, and his fellow-citizens re- 
quired it of him in large measure. The Bell 
name had been distinguished by his father 
and uncle, who preceded him in the chief 
magistracy. A characteristic trait of 
(rovernor Bell was his deep interest in 
literature and history. Indeed, as early 
as 1868, before he had yet reached mid- 
dle life, he retired from the active practice 
of his profession and devoted himself 
chiefly to the pursuits to which his tastes 
invited him. Local history, biography, 
and genealogy mainly engaged his atten- 
tion, and the work which he did in these 
fields has laid not only his native town but 
also the state under great and lasting obli- 
gations to him.^' His first relations with 
The Phillips Exeter Academy had been 
those of the student. Here he had pre- 
pared for admission to Dartmouth College. 
In 1879 he was made a member of the 
board of trustees of the Academy, and at 
his death was its president. As a resident 
trustee, he was intimately accjuainted with 
the administration of the school in all its 
details. How well he knew its past is 
shown in his admirable history of the 
Academy, published in 1883. He gave 
to its affairs his constant attention, and its 
welfare was one of his deepest concerns. 
The doors of the Bell home were always 

•*' The two small upper rooms on the east side of 
the house which are connected by double doors 
were used as his study. His desk stood by the 
window in the forward room. The walls were 
lined with books. 



open for the entertainment of its officers 
and students. 

His two daughters by an earlier mar- 
riage came with Mr. Bell to make their 
home in the (iilman house, and remained 
as members of the family through their 
girlhood and young womanhood. Indeed 
the elder, Helen, had already belonged to 
the household as a child, for her mother, 
Mr. Bell's first wife, was a granddaughter 
of Colonel Nathaniel Oilman. Orphaned 
in her early childhood by this mother's 




MRS. MARY ELIZABETH BELL 

death, she had come back for a time to 
the shelter of the ancestral home. The 
two Bell sisters, accordingly, joined the 
company of the Ciilman children not 
merely as stepsisters but also as intimately 
known cousins. The second of Mr. Bell's 
daughters, Mary Persis, remained at home 
till 1885, when she was married to Hollis 
Russell Bailey, who was graduated from 
Harvard College in 1877 and is now a 



30 



THK CrlLMAN HOUSE 



well-known member of the Boston bar. 
Their home is in Cambridge. 

Nine weddings have been celebrated 
in the (Oilman house. Nathaniel's four 
daughters were married there, Frances, 
Ann, Abigail, and Mary ; then two grand- 
daughters, Ann Rogers and Sarah (rilnian. 
The husband of the latter was Charles H. 
Bell. The next wedding occurred twenty 
years later, when Mr. Bell again took a 
daughter of the house, Joseph T. Oilman's 
widow. Five years after her sister's mar- 
riage to Mr. Bailey, Helen Bell became 




CHARLES Wn.I.IsrON MCAl.PIN 

the wife of Harold North Fowler, and the 
solemn words of the nuptial ceremony 
were pronounced for the last time in the 
long library. The occasion brought to- 
gether perhaps the largest and most bril- 
liant company the old mansion had ever 



seen. The Academy had more than a 
mere neighborly interest in the wedding, 
for Mr. Fowler was a member of the Fac- 
ulty. He removed from P^xeter two years 
later, and is now a professor in Western 
Reserve University. His name is widely 
known among students of classical phil- 
ology. 

The passage of the generations through 
the (iilman house has been marked ])y a 
kind of rhythmic rise and fall. Dr. John 
Odlin and his wife entered it only two. 
The birth of their children gradually en- 
larged the household. After a score of 
years the entire family removed, and the 
house was left for a time unoccupied and 
silent. Then came Nathaniel Oilman and 
his wife, and it was slowly filled again with 
sons and daughters. In the early years 
of the last century it was a place of busy 
activity and good cheer, alive with children 
and thronged with guests. As the children, 
however, grew to maturity, and one by one 
withdrew from the hapj^y fellowship, the 
(juiet and solitude of old age crept over 
the home. The return of the son Joseph 
from the East brought another change. 
Even before Madam Oilman's death the 
tide of young life had begun to rise again. 
Three children were born within the home, 
and two more were brought to it, after a 
little, by the marriage with Mr. Bell. 
Youth and labor and hope again abounded. 
The master of the house was the foremost 
citizen of the state, and the mistress and 
daughters by virtue of wealth and gentle 
breeding were fitted to assume social lead- 
ership. Its ancient traditions of hospitality 
were revived, and during the seventies and 
eighties the Bell mansion became the 
center of the social life of the community. 
Many an Academy boy of those days recalls 
his share in the abundant life of the house- 
hold. Partly because of her husband's offi- 
cial connection with the school, and partly 



THE (HLMAN HOUSE 



31 



because of her own deep and genuine in- 
terest in persons, particularly in youth, Mrs. 
Bell found great pleasure in extending to 
the students the generous hospitality of 
her home. " For many years," writes one 
of her admirers in the Class of 1874, 
" the gambrel-roofed house on Front Street 
was a second home to students." She 
was a constant friend during their school 
days and followed with interest their sub- 
sequent careers. Her inability to enter- 
tain them in her later years she regarded 
as a great deprivation. 

Once more the slow disintegration of 
the household began. One married and 
fared from home, and then another, until 
by 1890 the circle of the family had been 
narrowed to three. Mr. Bell's death 
occurred in 1893, and then only the 
widow and her daughter were left. 
Thereafter the current of life within the 
old house flowed evenly and very quietly. 
The frail health of Mrs. Bell rendered a 
large hospitality impossible and compelled 
a final and reluctant withdrawal from the 
general society of the town. The guests 
were mainly relatives and a few better 
known friends. With the Unitarian Church 
Mrs. Bell maintained active connection. 
She was its oldest and most loyal member, 
scrupulous always in the performance of 
such duties as her position required and 
her strength permitted. Like Dorothea 
Folsom before her, too, she failed not to 
regard the poor. Mindful of the obliga- 
tions laid upon her by the possession of 
ample means, she gave liberally, though 
wisely, to those whose needs she knew. 
" No one departed unfilled." 

It was in Mrs. Bell thai the ancient 
dwelling of the Gilmans first came to full 
consciousness of its own dignity and 
splendid history. Alien though she was, 
she steeped herself in the traditions of the 
family of her adoption, gloried in its hon- 



orable past, and faithfully taught her 
children to revere their precious heritage 
and to emulate their fathers' worth. She 
knew the house as her own home for more 
than fifty years, and it was also her pleas- 
ure to reconstruct in imagination, as far as 
the available means would permit, the life 
lived within its walls before she entered it. 




DR. DAVID HUNTER MCALPIN 

It is not easy for those who have know^n 
the homestead only during this period of 
what might be called the twilight of the 
(iilman occupation to believe that it could 
ever have possessed a greater charm in 
earlier times. There were indeed no 
throngs of guests, but the few that came 
received from the ladies of the house the 
best of all they had, which is the substance 
of true hospitality. And this best was 
nothing less than a very human sympathy 
and interest and regard, such things as 
depend not upon furnishings nor even 
polished manners, but are the graces of an 



32 



THE (ilLMAN HOUSE 



excellent spirit. Order, with peace, per- 
vaded the house. The mistress of it had 
known the full range of our common 
human experience, and the mingled joy 
and suffering had left her tranquil in the 
presence of every person or event, (ren- 
tle manners were there, and pleasing 
speech, and the love of good books, and of 
the artist's work. Almost best of all were 
the simplicity and sound sense, with the 
shrewd and playful humor that never failed. 

Mrs. Bell was accustomed to spend a 
great part of the year in her cottage on 
the coast at Little Boar's Head. At the 
end of her last season there, that of 1903, 
declining strength made her unwontedly 
eager to return to Exeter. The old home 
seemed to draw her. Within its familiar 
walls, before the winter was gone, she died, 
and the last silence fell on the home of 
the Gilmans. 

When the Trustees of the Academy 
v(5ted to convert the Oilman house into a 
residence for students, they added the 
recommendation that " no important 
structural changes be made." This wish 



was observed so far as practicable in all 
the work of alteration and repair. It was 
found necessary to make a new arrange- 
ment of the rooms in the ell in order to 
adapt them to their present purpose, but 
the main part of the house, both interior 
and exterior, remains substantially as it 
was in the days of Nathaniel Oilman. The 
Trustees have had in mind not merely the 
serviceability of the building, but also, and 
hardly less, its value as an historic monu- 
ment. Those who love and revere it are 
well pleased that henceforth it will not be 
subject to the vicissitudes of private owner- 
ship, but will be in the possession of a 
stable institution, which has both the abil- 
ity and the will to hold and preserve it 
in perpetuity. The boys whom it shelters 
in the coming years will not fail to regard 
it with something of the reverence that 
befits old age. It is now freely yielded to 
their uses, but even in the midst of their 
overflowing life and activity they must be 
dimly cohscious of this venerable presence, 
and almost turn at times to catch the faint 
footsteps of departed (rilmans. 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 



018 458 953 9 



